No One Before You

TRANSLATION

O best of the Kuru warriors, no one before you has ever seen this universal form of Mine, for neither by studying the Vedas, nor by performing sacrifices, nor by charity, nor by pious activities, nor by severe penances can I be seen in this form in the material world.

PURPORT

The divine vision in this connection should be clearly understood. Who can have divine vision? Divine means godly. Unless one attains the status of divinity as a demigod, he cannot have divine vision. And what is a demigod? It is stated in the Vedic scriptures that those who are devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are demigods (viṣṇu-bhaktāḥ smṛtā devāḥ). Those who are atheistic, i.e., who do not believe in Viṣṇu, or who recognize only the impersonal part of Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme, cannot have the divine vision. It is not possible to decry Kṛṣṇa and at the same time have the divine vision. One cannot have the divine vision without becoming divine. In other words, those who have divine vision can also see like Arjuna.

The Bhagavad-gītā gives the description of the universal form. Although this description was unknown to everyone before Arjuna, now one can have some idea of the viśva-rūpa after this incident. Those who are actually divine can see the universal form of the Lord. But one cannot be divine without being a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The devotees, however, who are actually in the divine nature and who have divine vision, are not very much interested in seeing the universal form of the Lord. As described in the previous verse, Arjuna desired to see the four-handed form of Lord Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu, and he was actually afraid of the universal form.

In this verse there are some significant words, just like veda-yajñādhyayanaiḥ, which refers to studying Vedic literature and the subject matter of sacrificial regulations. Veda refers to all kinds of Vedic literature, such as the four Vedas (Ṛg, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva) and the eighteen Purāṇas, the Upaniṣads and the Vedānta-sūtra. One can study these at home or anywhere else. Similarly, there are sūtras — Kalpa-sūtras and Mīmāḿsā-sūtras — for studying the method of sacrifice. Dānaiḥ refers to charity which is offered to a suitable party, such as those who are engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord — the brāhmaṇas and the Vaiṣṇavas. Similarly, "pious activities" refers to the agni-hotra and the prescribed duties of the different castes. And the voluntary acceptance of some bodily pains is called tapasya. So one can perform all these — can accept bodily penances, give charity, study the Vedas, etc. — but unless he is a devotee like Arjuna, it is not possible to see that universal form. Those who are impersonalists are also imagining that they are seeing the universal form of the Lord, but from Bhagavad-gītā we understand that the impersonalists are not devotees. Therefore they are unable to see the universal form of the Lord.

There are many persons who create incarnations. They falsely claim an ordinary human to be an incarnation, but this is all foolishness. We should follow the principles of Bhagavad-gītā, otherwise there is no possibility of attaining perfect spiritual knowledge. Although Bhagavad-gītā is considered the preliminary study of the science of God, still it is so perfect that it enables one to distinguish what is what. The followers of a pseudo incarnation may say that they have also seen the transcendental incarnation of God, the universal form, but that is unacceptable because it is clearly stated here that unless one becomes a devotee of Kṛṣṇa one cannot see the universal form of God. So one first of all has to become a pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa; then he can claim that he can show the universal form of what he has seen. A devotee of Kṛṣṇa cannot accept false incarnations or followers of false incarnations.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Finding A New Spring

Finding A New Spring [Perseverance]
Once upon a time a certain tradesman was leading a caravan to another country to sell his goods. Along the way they came to the edge of a severe hot-sand desert. They asked about, and found that during the day time the sun heats up the fine sand until it’s as hot as charcoal, so no one can walk on it – not even bullocks or camels!
So the caravan leader hired a desert guide, one who could follow the stars, so they could travel
only at night when the sand cools down. They began the dangerous night time journey across the desert.

A couple nights later, after eating their evening meal, and waiting for the sand to cool, they arted out again. Later that night the desert guide, who was driving the first cart, saw from the stars
that they were getting close to the other side of the desert. He had also overeaten, so that when he relaxed, he dozed off to sleep. Then the bullocks who, of course, couldn’t tell directions by reading the stars, gradually turned to the side and went in a big wide circle until they ended up at the same place they had started from!

By then it was morning, and the people realized they were back at the same spot they’d camped at the day before. They lost heart and began to cry about their condition. Since the desert
crossing was supposed to be over by now, they had no more water and were afraid they would die of thirst. They even began to blame the caravan leader and the desert guide – “We can do nothing without water!”, they complained.

Then the tradesman thought to himself, “If I lose courage now, in the middle of this disastrous
situation, my leadership has no meaning. If I fall to weeping and regretting this misfortune, and
do nothing, all these goods and bullocks and even the lives of the people, including myself, may be lost. I must be energetic and face the situation!” So he began walking back and forth, trying to think out a plan to save them all.
Remaining alert, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small clump of grass. He thought, Without water, no plant could live in this desert.” So he called over the most energetic of his fellow travellers and asked them to dig up the ground on that very spot. They dug and dug, and after a while they got down to a large stone. Seeing it they stopped, and began to blame the ader again, saying “This effort is useless. We’re just wasting our time!” But the tradesman replied, “No no, my friends, if we give up the effort we will all be ruined and our poor animals will die –
let us be encouraged!”
As he said this, he got down into the hole, put his ear to the stone, and heard the sound of flowing water. Immediately, he called over a boy who had been digging and said, “If you give up, we will all perish – so take this heavy hammer and strike the rock.”
The boy lifted the hammer over his head and hit the rock as hard as he could – and he himself
was the most surprised when the rock spilt in two and a mighty flow of water gushed out from
under it! Suddenly, all the people were overjoyed. They drank and bathed and washed the animals and cooked their food and ate.
Before they left, they raised a high banner so that other travellers could see it from afar and come to the new spring in the middle of the hotsand desert. Then they continued on safely to the end of their journey.

The moral is: Don’t give up too easily – keep on trying until you reach the goal.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Finding A New Spring

Finding A New Spring [Perseverance]
Once upon a time a certain tradesman was leading a caravan to another country to sell his goods. Along the way they came to the edge of a severe hot-sand desert. They asked about, and found that during the day time the sun heats up the fine sand until it’s as hot as charcoal, so no one can walk on it – not even bullocks or camels!
So the caravan leader hired a desert guide, one who could follow the stars, so they could travel
only at night when the sand cools down. They began the dangerous night time journey across the desert.

A couple nights later, after eating their evening meal, and waiting for the sand to cool, they arted out again. Later that night the desert guide, who was driving the first cart, saw from the stars
that they were getting close to the other side of the desert. He had also overeaten, so that when he relaxed, he dozed off to sleep. Then the bullocks who, of course, couldn’t tell directions by reading the stars, gradually turned to the side and went in a big wide circle until they ended up at the same place they had started from!

By then it was morning, and the people realized they were back at the same spot they’d camped at the day before. They lost heart and began to cry about their condition. Since the desert
crossing was supposed to be over by now, they had no more water and were afraid they would die of thirst. They even began to blame the caravan leader and the desert guide – “We can do nothing without water!”, they complained.

Then the tradesman thought to himself, “If I lose courage now, in the middle of this disastrous
situation, my leadership has no meaning. If I fall to weeping and regretting this misfortune, and
do nothing, all these goods and bullocks and even the lives of the people, including myself, may be lost. I must be energetic and face the situation!” So he began walking back and forth, trying to think out a plan to save them all.
Remaining alert, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small clump of grass. He thought, Without water, no plant could live in this desert.” So he called over the most energetic of his fellow travellers and asked them to dig up the ground on that very spot. They dug and dug, and after a while they got down to a large stone. Seeing it they stopped, and began to blame the ader again, saying “This effort is useless. We’re just wasting our time!” But the tradesman replied, “No no, my friends, if we give up the effort we will all be ruined and our poor animals will die –
let us be encouraged!”
As he said this, he got down into the hole, put his ear to the stone, and heard the sound of flowing water. Immediately, he called over a boy who had been digging and said, “If you give up, we will all perish – so take this heavy hammer and strike the rock.”
The boy lifted the hammer over his head and hit the rock as hard as he could – and he himself
was the most surprised when the rock spilt in two and a mighty flow of water gushed out from
under it! Suddenly, all the people were overjoyed. They drank and bathed and washed the animals and cooked their food and ate.
Before they left, they raised a high banner so that other travellers could see it from afar and come to the new spring in the middle of the hotsand desert. Then they continued on safely to the end of their journey.

The moral is: Don’t give up too easily – keep on trying until you reach the goal.

Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You